Davros 9138 226135760 2008-07-16T23:50:29Z Theplanetsaturn 1388730 {{for|the [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish Audio]] of the same name|Davros (Doctor Who audio)}} {{Doctorwhocharacter| | image = [[Image:BleachDavros.jpg|210px|Julian Bleach as Davros]] <br/> [[Julian Bleach]] as Davros. | name = Davros | series = Doctor Who | affiliation = [[Dalek]]s | race = [[Kaled]] | planet = [[Skaro]] | era = Unspecified | start = ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'' |finish = ''[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]] (to date)'' | portrayed = [[Michael Wisher]]<br/>(1975)<br/>[[David Gooderson]]<br/>(1979)<br/>[[Terry Molloy]]<br/>(1984–88)<br/>[[Julian Bleach]]<br/>(2008) }} '''Davros''' is a character from the long-running [[United Kingdom|British]] [[science fiction on television|science fiction television]] series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Davros is responsible for the creation of the [[Doctor (Doctor Who)|Doctor's]] deadliest enemies, the [[Dalek]]s. He was created by screenwriter [[Terry Nation]]. Davros is a [[scientist]] from the planet [[Skaro]] whose people, the [[Kaled]]s, were engaged in a bitter thousand-year [[war of attrition]] with their enemies, the [[Thal (Doctor Who)|Thals]]. He is horribly scarred and crippled for reasons that are never explained on-screen, with only one functioning arm and one [[Cybernetics|cybernetic]] eye mounted on his forehead; for much of his existence he depends completely upon a self-designed mobile [[Life support|life-support]] chair which encloses the lower half of his body. It would become an obvious inspiration for his eventual design of the Dalek. Davros's voice, like those of the [[Dalek]]s, is electronically distorted. His manner of speech is generally soft and contemplative, but when angered or excited he is prone to ranting outbursts that resemble the hysterical, staccato speech of his creations. Davros is a [[megalomania]]c who believes that through his creations, the Daleks, he can become the supreme being and ruler of the universe. He is a brilliant scientist who has demonstrated mastery of [[robotics]], [[metallurgy]], [[chemistry]], [[artificial intelligence]], [[cloning]], [[genetic engineering]], [[biology]], [[physics]], [[military tactics]], and [[cybernetics]]. ==Character history== === The Kaled/Thal Conflict === In the character's first appearance in the 1975 serial ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'', Davros was played by Michael Wisher, wearing a latex mask designed by John Friedlander; Wisher based his performance on the philosopher [[Bertrand Russell]].<ref>{{cite video | people = Michael Wisher | title = The Making of Shakedown & DreamWatch '94 Highlights | medium = [[VHS]] | publisher = Dreamwatch Media Ltd | location = [[London]] | year2 = 1994 }}</ref> When he first encounters the [[Fourth Doctor]] in that story, Davros is the chief scientist of the Kaleds, heading the Elite Scientific Division. Davros realises that contamination from the [[nuclear weapon|nuclear]] and [[biological weapon|biological]] weapons used in the war is [[Mutation|mutating]] the Kaled race, and artificially accelerates the process to examine the ultimate [[evolution]]ary end product. The mutations are weak and crippled: no more than brains with [[Tentacle|tentacular]] [[appendage]]s and with no hope of survival on their own. His solution is to remove all emotions pertaining to weakness, a category in which he groups such emotions as compassion, mercy and kindness, and place the mutants in tank-like "Mark III travel machines" partly based on the design of his wheelchair. He later names these creatures Daleks, an [[anagram]] of Kaleds. Davros quickly becomes obsessed with his creations, considering them to be the ultimate form of life, superior to all others. To stop his own people from shutting down his Dalek project, he arranges for them to be wiped out by the Thals. The Daleks then almost exterminate the [[Thal (Doctor Who)|Thal]] victors, but ultimately turn on Davros and apparently kill him at the conclusion of the serial.<ref>{{cite serial | title = [[Genesis of the Daleks]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Terry Nation]], Director [[David Maloney]], Producer [[Philip Hinchcliffe]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One|BBC1]] | city = London | began = 1975-03-08 | ended = 1975-04-12}}</ref> === War with the Movellans === [[Image:GoodersonDavros.jpg|150px|thumb|right|David Gooderson as Davros in ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''.]] He proved too effective a character to be kept dead and was resurrected four years later in 1979's ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''<ref>{{cite serial | title = [[Destiny of the Daleks]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Terry Nation]], Director Ken Grieve, Producer [[Graham Williams]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One|BBC1]] | city = London | began = 1979-09-01 | ended = 1979-09-22}}</ref> (played by [[David Gooderson]] using the mask Friedlander made for Wisher). The Daleks unearth their creator — who had apparently been in [[suspended animation]] since his "death" in ''Genesis'' — to help them break a [[logic]]al impasse in their war against the [[android]] [[Movellan]]s. However, the Dalek force is destroyed by the Doctor, and Davros is captured and imprisoned by the humans. === Release === In the [[Fifth Doctor]] story ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]'',<ref>{{cite serial | title = [[Resurrection of the Daleks]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Eric Saward]], Director [[Matthew Robinson]], Producer [[John Nathan-Turner]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One|BBC1]] | city = London | began = 1984-02-08| ended = 1984-02-15}}</ref> a small Dalek force aided by human [[mercenary|mercenaries]] and Dalek duplicates liberates Davros (now played by [[Terry Molloy]], with a new mask designed by Stan Mitchell) from his [[space station]] prison, needing his expertise to find an [[antidote]] for a Movellan-created [[virus]] that has all but wiped them out. Believing his creations to be treacherous, Davros begins using [[mind control]] on Daleks and humans, ultimately releasing the virus to kill off the Daleks before they can exterminate him. However, at the end of the story, he apparently succumbs to the virus himself before he can escape, his physiology being close enough to that of the Daleks for the virus to affect him. The hypothetical creation of a viral weapon had been the subject of a discussion between the Fourth Doctor and Davros in ''Genesis of the Daleks''. <br style="clear: left"/> === The Great Healer === Davros emerges as "The Great Healer" of the funeral and [[cryogenics|cryogenic]] preservation centre Tranquil Repose on the planet Necros in the [[Sixth Doctor]] story ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]'',<ref>{{cite serial | title = [[Revelation of the Daleks]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Eric Saward]], Director [[Graeme Harper]], Producer [[John Nathan-Turner]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC1]] | city = London | began = 1985-03-23 | ended = 1985-03-30}}</ref> where he uses frozen bodies to engineer a new variety of Daleks loyal to him, distinguished from the original Daleks by their white and gold livery and slightly changed design. In this story there appear to be two Davroses: one is a head in a tank and apparently a decoy for assassins; the other is in his usual chair (which can now hover), emerging from hiding when the decoy is assassinated. Davros can now move his neck and fire electric bolts from his hand, although the hand is shot off shortly before his original creations arrive to defeat the new Daleks and transport Davros to face trial on Skaro. In this serial and his next appearance, Davros was again played by Molloy, wearing a mask cast from Stan Mitchell's mold. === The Dalek Civil War === Davros appears as the [[Dalek variants#Dalek Emperor|Emperor Dalek]] in ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'',<ref>{{cite serial | title = [[Remembrance of the Daleks]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Ben Aaronovitch]], Directors Andrew Morgan, [[John Nathan-Turner]] (uncredited), Producer John Nathan-Turner | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One|BBC1]] | city = London | began = 1988-10-05 | ended = 1988-10-26}}</ref> with his white and gold Daleks now based on Skaro and termed "[[Dalek variants#Imperial Dalek|Imperial Daleks]]", fighting against the grey "Renegade Dalek" faction. By this time, Davros is physically transplanted into a customised Dalek casing. Both Skaro and the Imperial Dalek [[Mother ship|mothership]] are apparently destroyed when the [[Seventh Doctor]] tricks Davros into using the [[Time Lord]] artifact known as the [[Hand of Omega]]. However, a Dalek on the bridge of Davros' ship reports that the Emperor's escape pod is being launched and a white light is seen speeding away from the ship moments before its destruction, leaving a clear route to bring Davros back in the future. === Time War and beyond=== In the [[List of Doctor Who serials#Series 1 (2005)|2005 series]], the Daleks and the [[Time Lord]]s had engaged in a mutually destructive [[Time War (Doctor Who)|Time War]]. An article by [[Russell T. Davies]] in the ''Doctor Who Annual 2006'' states that one of the "Dalek Puppet Emperors" openly declared his hostilities towards the Time Lords and their planet, [[Gallifrey]]. The Dalek Emperor, a mutant Dalek floating in a tank of fluid connected to a giant Dalek shell, survived to build a new race of Daleks.<ref>{{cite episode | title = [[The Parting of the Ways]] | series = [[Doctor Who]] | credits = Writer [[Russell T. Davies]], Director [[Joe Ahearne]], Producer [[Phil Collinson]] | network = [[BBC]] | station = [[BBC One]] | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2005-06-18}}</ref> In the first three seasons of the revival, Davros is referred to (albeit not by name) twice: first in the episode "[[Dalek (Doctor Who episode)|Dalek]]" by the [[Ninth Doctor]], who explains that the Daleks were created by "a man who was king of his own little world", and again by the [[Tenth Doctor]] in the episode "[[Evolution of the Daleks]]", where he refers to the Daleks' creator as believing that "removing emotions made a race stronger". Davros returned in the final two episodes of the 2008 series of ''Doctor Who''<ref name="TeleMedia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2142381/Dr-Who%27s-enemy-Davros-to-make-a-comeback.html|title=Dr Who's enemy Davros to make a comeback|last=Clout|first=Laura|date=2008-06-17|work=The Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph Media Group|accessdate=2008-06-17}}</ref><ref>http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1299482.ece</ref> played by [[Julian Bleach]], in a silicone gel mask created by Neill Gorton.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Friends and Foe |episodelink=Doctor Who Confidential#Series 4 (2008) |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/confidential/S4_12 |series=Doctor Who Confidential |serieslink=Doctor Who Confidential |credits=Zoë Rushton (Producer); Gillane Seaborne (Series Producer); Neill Gorton (Interviewee) |network=[[BBC Three]] |city=Cardiff |airdate=2008-06-28 |seriesno=4 |number=12 |minutes=12:25 }}</ref> In "[[The Stolen Earth]]", Davros is believed to have been killed during the first year of the Time War. [[Cult of Skaro#Dalek Caan|Dalek Caan]] was able to use a emergency temporal shift to go to the events of the Time War, a feat thought impossible due to the events being 'time-locked', and was able to save Davros (but consequently, it forced the Time Vortex through Caan's mind, driving him insane yet also giving him precognitive abilities). Davros uses cells from his own body to breed a new Dalek race, enough so that he has little skin and flesh left on his chest and his ribcage and internal organs are visible. Under his guidance, the Daleks 'steal' 27 planets, including Earth, and hide them in the Medusa Cascade, one second out of sync with the rest of the universe. In "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]", however, it is implied by the Doctor that Davros is not in control of the Daleks and is instead being kept prisoner in the Vault, having been overthrown (again) and kept around to give his scientific knowledge. The Doctor taunts him as being their "pet". With Davros' knowledge, the Daleks have created a "reality bomb" that would use the stolen planets as a beacon to cause all matter to dissolve into its atoms, wiping out all of existence except for the Daleks and the Crucible: he declares this to be his "ultimate victory". It turns out, however, that he and the Daleks are being misled and betrayed by Dalek Caan who is using his prophecies and influence to bring the Doctor and Donna to meet, causing the Daleks' destruction. Davros is seemingly killed when the Crucible is destroyed, however his death is not shown. During Doctor Who Confidential Russell T Davies explained how he believes Davros to have survived the Crucible's destruction in some way (i.e. by escape pod as before, or possible emergency temporal shift), not specifically showing his death for this reason. He explained that he would not like to be the one to kill off one of the doctor's greatest enemies. In his "death" scene, the Doctor offers to take Davros to safety, but Davros, screaming in fury, refuses, and names the Doctor as being responsible for the destruction, calling him the "destroyer of worlds"; he previously had taunted and demoralised the Doctor as being responsible for turning his companions into killers and having caused the deaths of countless people, comparing the Doctor to himself. In this appearance Davros has a cybernetic hand, replacing the one that was destroyed in ''Revelation''. He can still fire energy bolts through it. ==Other appearances== ===Comic strips=== ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' printed several comics stories involving Davros. The first, "[[Nemesis of the Daleks]]" (#152-155), with the Seventh Doctor, features an appearance of a Dalek Emperor. Speaking with the Emperor, the Doctor addresses him as Davros, but the Emperor responds "Who is Davros?" The Doctor initially assumes Davros's personality has been totally subsumed, but in the later strip "[[Emperor of the Daleks]]" (#197-202) this Emperor is shown as a different entity from Davros. Set prior to ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' in Davros' timeline, but after in the timeline of the Doctor, the latter, accompanied by [[Bernice Summerfield]], together with help from the Sixth Doctor, ensures that Davros will survive the wrath of the Daleks so that he can assume the title of Emperor, allowing history to take its course. "[[Up Above the Gods]]" (#227), a vignette following up on this, features the Sixth Doctor and Davros having a conversation in the TARDIS. ===Audio plays=== Terry Molloy has reprised his role as Davros in the [[Doctor Who spin-offs|spin-off]] [[radio drama|audio plays]] produced by [[Big Finish Productions]], mostly notably ''[[Davros (Doctor Who audio)|Davros]]'' (taking place during the [[Sixth Doctor]]'s era), which, through flashbacks, explored the scientist's life prior to his crippling injury, which is attributed to a Thal nuclear attack (an idea that first appeared in [[Terrance Dicks]]' novelisation of ''Genesis of the Daleks''). ''Davros'', which does not feature the Daleks, fills in the gaps between ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' and ''Revelation of the Daleks'', and has the scientist trying to manipulate the galaxy's economy into a war footing similar to Skaro's. The Sixth Doctor manages to defeat his plans, and Davros is last heard when his ship explodes, an event obliquely mentioned in ''Revelation''. The Big Finish miniseries ''[[I, Davros]]'', (set before Davros' trial after ''Revelation'') also starring Molloy, further explores Davros' early life. The subsequent play ''[[The Juggernauts]]'' similarly takes place between ''Revelation'' and ''Remembrance''. There, Davros adds human [[Nervous system|nervous]] tissue to robotic [[List of Doctor Who robots#M|Mechanoids]] to create the Juggernauts of the play's title; he hopes to use these as an army to destroy the Daleks. At the end of the story, the [[self-destruct]] mechanism of Davros' life-support chair explodes, destroying an entire human colony. It is not clear how Davros survives to become the Dalek Emperor as seen in ''Remembrance''. By the time of the [[Eighth Doctor]] audio play ''[[Terror Firma]]'' (set after ''Remembrance''), Davros is commanding a Dalek army which has successfully conquered the Earth. His mental instability has grown to the point where "Davros" and "the Emperor" exist within him as [[Disassociative identity disorder|different personalities]]. His Daleks recognize this instability and rebel against Davros. By the story's end the Emperor personality is dominant, and the Daleks agree to follow him and leave Earth. ===Novels=== ''Terror Firma'' seemed to contradict the events of the [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''[[War of the Daleks]]'' by [[John Peel (writer)|John Peel]], in which an unmerged Davros is placed on trial by the Dalek Prime, a combination of the Dalek Emperor and the [[Dalek variants#Dalek Supreme|Dalek Supreme]]. In the novel the Dalek Prime reveals that the planet Antalin had been [[Terraforming|terraformed]] to resemble Skaro and was destroyed in its place. It also claimed that the Dalek/Movellan war (and indeed most of Dalek history before the destruction of "Skaro") was actually faked for Davros' benefit; the Daleks had discovered records of Skaro's destruction during their conquest of Earth, but, unable to change history, had developed an elaborate plot to bring the recorded events about while ensuring Skaro's survival. However, Antalin is later seen to be intact and undamaged, and one character notes that it is quite possible the Dalek Prime is lying in order to weaken Davros' claim to leadership of the Daleks. ''War of the Daleks'', like the comic strips and audio plays, is of uncertain [[canon (fiction)#Doctor Who)|canonicity]] when it comes to the television series. At the conclusion of ''War'', Davros was seemingly disintegrated by a [[Dalek variants#Spider Dalek|Spider Dalek]] on the order of the Dalek Prime. However, Davros had previously recruited one of the Spider Daleks as a [[sleeper agent]] for just such an eventuality, and even he was not certain in the end if he was being disintegrated or being [[teleportation|teleported]] away to safety, leaving the possibility open for his return. How ''Terror Firma'' and ''War'' can be reconciled is not clear. ===Short fiction=== [[Paul Cornell]]'s dark vignette in the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]'' Brief Encounters series, "An Incident Concerning the Bombardment of the Phobos Colony" occurs sometime between "Resurrection of the Daleks" and his assumption of the role of Emperor. ===Theatre=== In 1993, Michael Wisher, the original Davros, with [[Peter Miles]], who had played his confederate, Nyder, reprised the role in an unlicensed one-off amateur stage production, ''[[The Trial of Davros]]''. The plot of the play involved the Time Lords putting Davros on trial, with Nyder as a witness. During the production, specially shot footage portrayed Dalek atrocities. Terry Molloy played Davros in the remounting of the play, again with Peter Miles for another one-off production, mounted in 2005. ==List of appearances== ===Television=== *''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]'': [[March 8]] &ndash; [[April 12]] [[1975]] *''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]'': [[September 1]] &ndash; [[September 22]] [[1979]] *''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]'': [[February 8]] &ndash; [[February 15]] [[1984]] *''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]'': [[March 23]] &ndash; [[March 30]] [[1985]] *''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'': [[October 5]] &ndash; [[October 26]] [[1988]] *"[[The Stolen Earth]]" / "[[Journey's End (Doctor Who)|Journey's End]]": [[June 28]] &ndash; [[5 July]] [[2008]] ===Comic strips=== *''Nemesis of the Daleks'', ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (suggested but later contradicted) *''Emperor of the Daleks'', ''Doctor Who Magazine'' *''Up Above the Gods'', ''Doctor Who Magazine'' ===Audio plays=== *''[[Davros (Doctor Who audio)|Davros]]'' *''[[The Juggernauts]]'' *''[[Terror Firma]]'' *''[[I, Davros: Innocence]]'' *''[[I, Davros: Purity]]'' *''[[I, Davros: Corruption]]'' *''[[I, Davros: Guilt]]'' *''Engines of Destruction'' (Doctor Who Unbound series, out of normal Doctor Who continuity) ===Short fiction=== *''An Incident Concerning the Continual Bombardment of the Phobos Colony'' by [[Paul Cornell]], ''Doctor Who Magazine'' #168 ===Original novels=== *''[[War of the Daleks]]'' by [[John Peel (writer)|John Peel]] (''[[Eighth Doctor Adventures]]'') ===Theatrical productions=== *''[[The Trial of Davros]]'', mounted 1994, 2005 ==DVD/Big Finish box set== On the [[26 November]] [[2007]], a Davros boxset was released featuring the following TV stories; ''[[Genesis of the Daleks]]''</br> ''[[Destiny of the Daleks]]''</br> ''[[Resurrection of the Daleks]]''</br> ''[[Revelation of the Daleks]]''</br> ''[[Remembrance of the Daleks]]'' Two Disc Special Edition And the following [[Big Finish]] audios;</br> ''[[Davros (Doctor Who audio)|Davros]]''</br> ''[[The Juggernauts]]''</br> ''[[Terror Firma]]''</br> ''[[I, Davros: Innocence]]''</br> ''[[I, Davros: Purity]]''</br> ''[[I, Davros: Corruption]]''</br> ''[[I, Davros: Guilt]]''</br> ''[[The Davros Mission]]'' - An exclusive new audio written by [[Nicholas Briggs]] and starring [[Terry Molloy]] and [[Miranda Raison]]. ==See also== *[[History of the Daleks]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/genesisofdaleks/quote.shtml Some quotes from ''Genesis of the Daleks''.] *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/dalekhistory1.shtml ''First History of the Daleks'' (and Second).] *[http://www.doctorwho.co.uk/news/news_060203_idavros.shtml Information on ''I, Davros'' on Big Finish's website] *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2006/11/10/film_terry_molloy_i_davros_feature.shtml BBC Norfolk - Watch interview with Terry Molloy discussing I Davros - November '06] *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/image_galleries/galleries_davros_gallery.shtml BBC Norfolk - Davros gallery with Terry Molloy interviews] {{Davros television stories}} <!--- Please do not add any more categories to this section without discussing it on the Talk page! ---> [[Category:Daleks]] [[Category:Recurring characters in Doctor Who|Davros]] [[Category:Doctor Who audio characters]] [[Category:Fictional scientists]] [[Category:Fictional characters with mental illness]] [[Category:Extraterrestrial supervillains]] [[Category:Fictional emperors and empresses]] [[Category:Fictional dictators]] [[Category:Fictional cyborgs]]